News From the Cause
Mental Combat Wounds Claim More Veterans' Lives: (WMTV-TV, MADISON, WI)
April 29, 2011
Heather Morales of La Crosse tries to hold on to the good memories of her life with her late husband--Sergeant First Class Cris Morales. "Even if I knew the outcome of what would happen to Cris, I'd still do it again in a heartbeat. We have a great daughter and lots of memories that will always make us laugh."
Like so many others, Heather lost her husband to the Iraq war....but it was mental, not physical wounds that eventually led to the Wisconsin National Guard soldier's death when he came home from Iraq.
Heather says, after Cris returned from Iraq, "Slowly, things just started seeming peculiar with him and I knew something wasn't right. He'd wake up screaming, thinking people were outside the apartment window. He'd be seeing things. We'd be walking down Mifflin Street, and he'd have this stance like he was holding a weapon, and just searching around. Loud noises like a car backfiring, he'd duck for cover. He accused me of being an Iraqi insurgent. Eventually, it turned violent, and I knew something was wrong."
Despite Heather's efforts to get help for Cris, in October of 2007, he took his own life. The Army ruled that his death was a direct result of combat-related mental health issues.
With her voice breaking up with emotion, Heather said, "It needs to stop, because it's costing us our husbands, and our brothers, and our cousins. People don't understand." click here to view more
